When Worlds Collide: How to Balance Construction Projects with Avian Life

Here at Robin, we’re no strangers to the advancing ecological impact of human development.

The expansive growth of wind farms is a prevalent example. There’s a careful balance at play in developing sustainable infrastructure without disrupting critical bird feeding, nesting and migration sites all over the globe. But turbines aren’t the only hazard that avian life must navigate. 

The need for critical infrastructure, like highways, power lines, buildings and bridges, is expanding, and so is its risk of disrupting both local and migratory birdlife. 

Conscious governmental bodies and surging ecological policy are shifting the spotlight to construction, stipulating research and wind farm environmental impact assessments (EIAs) to better understand any impacts that construction could have on wildlife.

Why construction COULD be a building risk to birds

The natural world is filled with diversity, anomalies, and intricacies we’re still uncovering. Like the human world that parallels it, it’s difficult to predict and continually adapts to thrive. 

Avian life is no different. Different species adapt and interact with human infrastructure in varying ways. That makes predicting the impact of construction projects difficult to quantify; it depends on location, design, and the specific ecosystems and cyclical patterns that surround the site. 

Here are some of the critical ways construction sites can throw up potential hazards for birds: 

Collision risk: Birds could collide with complex structures they’re not used to, especially during migration. This is particularly problematic for offshore structures or tall buildings in urban areas, where lights even attract birds at night.

Disruption of flight paths: Some birds may adapt their flight paths to avoid structures. In a way, that’s good, the danger of collision is avoided, but it causes other survival penalties. Migrating birds expend energy down to finite detail, and longer, more complex routes could damage the success of their journeys. 

Habitat disruption: Construction projects on or surrounding critical habitats could cause displacement. Birds forced away from potentially critical sites for breeding, roosting, nesting or feeding face the grave challenge of finding resource elsewhere. 

Careful research is key to understanding any specific impacts of human developments on the natural world, and setting up protocols that protect it.

Bright Lights, Clear Glass

Studies from organisations like NYC Audubon report that between 90,000 and 230,000 birds die each year in New York alone, primarily due to collisions with glass windows in skyscrapers.  

In urban areas, like New York City, high-rise buildings pose serious risks during migration seasons. One notable incident occurred near the World Trade Center, where 226 bird carcasses were retrieved in a single day. 

Birds, particularly during stormy weather and night migration, can become disoriented by artificial lights, mistaking reflections of the sky or vegetation in glass for surrounding habitat, leading to fatal collisions.

To mitigate these hazards, cities like New York and Toronto have implemented regulations requiring bird-friendly design, such as patterned glass and reduced artificial lighting during peak migration periods.

Factoring in the potential impact of infrastructure during its construction phase could curb danger for birds substantially. The Javits Center in New York City successfully reduced bird collisions by 95% with the installation of bird-safe glass, showcasing the importance of understanding birds and building in a way that protects them.

Sources:
Facility Executive Magazine
Modu

Plugging a research gap

Our bird detection radar is designed for the detailed study of bird (and bat) behaviour. It delivers 3D, 360° awareness, 365 days a year. With uniquely detailed detection and an extensive reporting database, it can track thousands of movements simultaneously, classifying bird size and giving accurate height information. 

Report Viewer holds manual observations, environmental conditions, flight characteristics and much more, making it ideal for deep analysis. Because MAX monitors continuously and equally well in darkness, it’s also well-placed to track behaviours and gather data under the cover of night.

VP Wind and Environmental Practice, Sibylle Giraud, said: “Gathering data on bird behaviour is essential to mitigating any adverse effects of human development, but it demands continuous monitoring, day and night, in remote locations and tricky terrains

“Before radar, studies like this relied heavily on human observations, limited by daylight and time. GPS is another way to uncover specific behaviours, it’s valuable, but unfeasible to tag more than say a few hundred birds. Collective behaviours can happen in thousands. 

“Radar can track these huge flocks, indicating bird number, flight path, altitude, speed, and more. It’s therefore particularly helpful in answering questions about collective movement and collision risk.”

Balancing human infrastructure 

We designed MAX to be a durable, versatile and intuitive tool for ecological research, deploying in both urban and remote locations all over the globe.

VP Wind and Environmental Practice, Sibylle Giraud, said: “I joined Robin in 2018 to expand our scope and create a team that fully focuses on the environmental segment. 

“It’s been an extraordinary journey over the last five years, seeing our flagship system, MAX, gradually deployed worldwide. 

“What I love the most is the passion within the industry to keep finding ways to protect birds. That’s why we’re seeing MAX bird detection radar applied in more diverse projects such as construction, and infrastructure. 

“Protecting the balance between human society and the natural world is an evolving challenge. However, the pace of innovation is accelerating in every corner of the planet, with radar applications surging in varied and  important environmental assessments.”